Changing your next trip

Changing your next trip

Bernd Ziesche | Wednesday, 24 May 2017

Most fly fishermen plan their fly fishing trips well ahead - often in the beginning of the year. Once a trip is set up it often seems to me that no matter how the fishing conditions may be the trip HAS to take place as planned!?

These days we are running from one fly fishing trip into the next one. On Saturday we should go to the Swedish river Mörrum to fly fish for Atlantic salmon. Usually the end of May is high CATCHING season on Mörrum. Our hosted Mörrum trip was set up in the beginning of the year. Right now the fishing conditions on Mörrum are truly disappointing:

8,9m³/s water = significant too little water (no proper drifts for the fly + few salmon being in a good striking mood)16°C water temperature (further increasing every day)weather forecast: NO RAIN, but warm and sunny6 fresh Atlantic salmon being caught all May yet (by hundrets of anglers) = very bad conditions, not leaving any hope for a proper fishing being ahead.

So I took a spontaneous decision and offered all our guests to change destination to Skjern river in Denmark, which offers proper (much better) conditions at the moment. A lot of fine Atlantic salmon being caught during the past weeks. Good water level assured after lots of rain has come down.Gladly all guests were pretty happy with my decision to change destination and cancel the Mörrum trip.

In my experience fly fishing for Atlantic salmon can go two ways:

1. It can be the biggest shit on the planet or2. It can be among the best fly fishing one can get.

Not much inbetween.

Catching a fat and silver Atlantic salmon of course is a fantastic experience. Often one has to work a serious amount of (fishing) time before it happens for a first time. And that's fair! Nothing bad in fly fishing a nice salmon river in proper conditions without catching something (but new hope every day) for a while. BUT fly fishing in conditions not leaving the slightest hope is a big shit and a waste of time in my opinion.

We cannot say to the rain: "more rain". Changing the trip we can!

What do you do with your fly fishing trips in case of all proper conditions going down the drain right before you'll start - change destination or not!?